Tributes to Ozzy Osbourne

Phish at Forest Hills

Author

Relix Daily
July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

NEWS

Yesterday, the music world lost one of its pillars with the death of Ozzy Osbourne. In his tenure as the founding frontman for Black Sabbath and his solo career, the singer and songwriter guided the development of a titanic subculture by possessing the hardest-hitting strains of rock with grim themes and his unmistakable howl, earning widespread reverence and household recognition as the godfather of heavy metal. The Prince of Darkness was 76.

WATCH

Last night, Dave Matthews Band brought their Summer Tour to the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford, N.H., for the first of two nights on the outdoor amphitheater stage. The group’s arrival surfaced hours after news broke that heavy metal purveyor Ozzy Osbourne had passed away at age 76. In acknowledgement of the massive loss, the bandleader used the start of the night encore to cover Black Sabbath’s 1972 released ballad, “Changes,” for the first time. During the band’s return for the concert’s final number, Stefan Lessard applied teases of Sabbath songs, “Crazy Train” and “Iron Man,” before settling into Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”

RECAP

Last night, Phish arrived in New York for their first night of their long-awaited series at Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium. The band’s debut at the beloved historic tennis stadium on the city’s outskirts was their first performance in an NYC venue other than Madison Square Garden in a decade, and night one’s packed house and celebratory energy were a testament ot the band’s passionate following in the Big Apple. While a cherished Pollock poster and appearances from Mr and Mrs. Met at the Waterwheel Foundation Table and out on the floor amplified the experience, Tuesday stood apart from the rest of Phish’s Summer Tour as its highlight wasn’t an unexpected setlist inclusion, but the novelty of Forest Hills itself.

RECAP

Billy Strings arrived at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, for his fourth and final show in the Oceania region on Tuesday night. The performance followed the band’s visit to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world, where they explored The Hobbiton Movie Set, the location used for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the inspiration behind the group’s 2022 Halloween performance in Asheville, N.C., dubbed “Away from the Shire.” During the concert that ensued, the group worked through two sets of music that evoked themes of existential pondering and nostalgia, classic motifs of the bluegrass catalog that also apply to Frodo Baggins’ own range of feeling.

NEWS

Dead & Company has partnered with nugs.net to livestream the band’s sold-out Golden Gate Park concert series in celebration of 60 years of the Grateful Dead’s song and spirit. The shows and subsequent streams will take place over three nights, Friday, August 1, through Sunday, August 3, which will feature opening frames from Billy Strings, Sturgill “Johnny Blue Skies” Simpson, and Trey Anastasio.

FEATURE

The official roster announcement video for the 2025 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival featured a familiar voice expressing a welcome musical sentiment.

LISTEN

Psychedelic-funk outfit, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, have unveiled details regarding their latest studio entry, and subsequent eighth studio output, Feed the Fire, due on October 3, 2025, via No Coincidence Records. As the initial listen and formal preview of the impending 12-track collection, the group has delivered the single, “Calm Before the Storm,” a groove-heavy offering that features horns mingles with their genre signatures, dropping notes of rock, funk and extemporized playfulness.